A Good Girl In A Bad World
by SarahBlackx
Summary: With her dad dead, and her mom ditching her only a year ago, seventeen year old, Casey Matthews is left with no friends, no support, and full responsibility of her three year old sister. Casey's life sucks- until her long lost best friend shows   up.


I remember when I was younger. I remember when my life was simple, when goodbye's only meant for a little while, and when my hardest decision in life was what color crayon I wanted to use next. I remember when I had no worries, and how everyone had faith in me. It was a beautiful thing really, but then I grew up. I got older, and as I got older it seemed like everything that was important to me disappeared.

The memories flooded my head immediately. The phone call, the tears, and the picture of my father lying in his casket. I shuddered, pushing the image out of my head. I didn't want to think of that. Not now, not ever.

I resisted the urge to cry, even though I wanted to so badly right now. Death is a hard thing to cope with. It happens in a blur, really. One day, you're telling that person that you love them, and then the next, that person is gone. Forever.

You can never see that person again. You can never tell that person that you loved them again, or how much they meant to you, or how thankful you were for everything they have done for you. That was the thing I regretted the most.

"Casey, Casey, Casey, Casey!" My little sister said in a sing-song voice.

I snapped out of my thoughts, bringing my attention down to the stroller I was pushing. Bella's light blue eyes pierced back into mine. Her dark brown, curly hair wrapped around her face as the wind blew. I smiled to myself, she was so cute!

"What, Bella?" I asked, while I crouched down in front of her, the smile never leaving my face.

"Balloon!" She shrieked, while pointing ahead of her frantically.

I looked at her confused. "Huh? Balloon?" I turned around, looking in the direction of where her little hand was pointing. "Oh! You want a balloon? Okay, let's go get you one." I said, while standing back up straight, and walking to the back of the stoller again.

I pushed her over to the little stand that had balloons surrounding it. I looked at the piece of paper that had the prices on it and quickly pulled out two dollars. I handed it over to the man behind the stand, and looked over to Bella. "Okay, Bells. Pick the one you want."

She looked up at the man, then back to me, her baby blue eyes growing wide. She fell back into the stroller, while quickly covering her eyes with her hands. I sighed. Ever since our mom left us, Bella was so shy around people she didn't know. I guess she just wasn't comfortable with them.

I crouched down next to her once again, not caring if my jeans got dirty from the cement sidewalk. "What if you whispered it to me in my ear? Then would you tell me which one you wanted so I can get it for you?" I asked, hoping that she would say yes so that I could tell the man who seemed to be getting impatient.

She peeked through her hands at me. I gave her a small smile. She continued to stare at me for another minute before she shook her head. I leaned closer so that she could tell me. "The butterfly one," She whispered, her voice barely audible.

I stood back up, and turned to the man, ignoring his annoyed glares. "She wants the butterfly one." He quickly handed over the the pink and purple butterfly balloon. "Have a nice day," He muttered. It was obvious he had to say that.

I handed it to her, smiling at her cute expression. "It's so pretty!" She yelled, while clapping her hands. I laughed at her over-excitedness. "It is!" I said, using the same tone she did.

"Casey, will you hold my balloon for me?"

"But, Bella-"

She quickly cut me off. She clasped her hands together, while giving me her best puppy dog face. "Please, Casey? Please?"

I sighed, feeling defeated. There was no way that I could say no to her. She was just too cute, and her eyes made it even worse.

I quickly wrapped the balloon around the handle of the stroller, and tied the string into a bow. She clapped her hands, while shrieking, "Yay!" Another quick laugh escaped my lips.

I began pushing the stroller down the somewhat crowded sidewalk once again. "I'm thirsty, Bells. Let's get something to drink."

We came up to the small shop, and walked inside. The air conditiong felt good after walking for so long in the hot summer air. We walked up to the desk, and I turned towards Bella. "What do you want to drink?" She pondered for a few seconds, slightly tapping her finger against her chin. I laughed at her cute expression. Too bad I didn't have a camera.

"Lemonade!" She said, her voice squeaking as the word came out of her mouth. I turned back around, and ordered two small lemonades.

The girl walked away for a minute, but quickly returned with two plastic cups in her hands. I gave her the total amount of money, and she handed over the two cold drinks.

I placed the drinks in the two cupholders in the stroller, and exited the small shop. The heat hit me instantly, making me regret leaving the building. I began walking again, but I immediately stopped by Bella's high voice.

"Casey! Casey, I want my drink!" I grabbed the drink, and brought it to her. She took a quick sip before quickly handing it back to me. I began making my way to the back of the stroller, but someone ran into me, causing Bella's lemonade to spill all over me.

I groaned internally. Seriously? Why me? "I am so sorry," said the husky voice. "It's okay," I said, while staring down at my soaking wet shirt. The man didn't say anything else, so I assumed he left, not caring that he completely ruined my shirt.

To my surprise, when I looked back up I saw a young guy who only looked a year or two older than me. He had short, brown hair, and tanned skin. He continued to stare at me with wide, dark brown eyes.

I started feeling self-conscious when his eyes never broke away from my face. I opened my mouth to say something, but he quickly cut me off before the words came out.

"Casey?" He said, incredulously. The shock was clear on his face and in his voice.

My eyes widened in surprise. Did I know him? I began searching my memories for someone I knew that looked like him, but nothing came up. I lingered there for a few seconds, not really sure what to say.

His face suddenly fell. "You don't remember me, do you?"

I felt guilty, but I shook my head, reluctantly. "I'm sorry."

"Twilight? New Moon? Eclipse?" He asked, staring at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I furrowed my eyebrows together, confused. Why was he bringing up Twilight? "Oh, um, well I read the books a few years ago, but I never saw the movies so-"

He cut me off with his loud laughter. When he finally stopped, his expression changed into an amused one. "I wasn't asking your opinion on them. I was just surprised you didn't recognnize me. I play Jacob in the movies, but I guess since you've never seen them, you wouldn't know that."

I stood there surprised. How was this guy talking to me casually as if he's known me for years? "Just because you're in movies doesn't mean that everyone has to know who you are." I said, feeling slightly irritated. First he spills lemonade all over me, and now he's being all arrogant? Who did this guy think he was?

"You're right, but I just thought that someone would know their childhood best friend when they saw them."

I cocked my head to the side, still confused. "What?" I asked, feeling completely dumbfounded. Last time I checked, I didn't personally know any big movie stars.

Once again, his face fell. He almost looked hurt. "You really don't remember me, huh? It's me, Casey. It's Taylor. You know, we are- er, were best friends when we were younger."

I gasped slightly. There was no way that this was my best friend! Was this some sort of sick joke? New emotions of hurt swept over me from when he moved to Hollywood when we were younger. It's funny, I thought I was over those.

"What are you even doing here?" He suddenly asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, um, we moved here a few years ago." I already knew what his next question was going to be.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" How could he even ask that? Before I could respond, realization spread across his face. "Oh, never mind."

I stood there, awkwardly, not knowing what to say. How could I even know what to say? I just ran into my childhood best friend, who I haven't seen for eight years. It's not exactly the most common occasion.

"Casey! My lemonade is all gone!" For the first time, I remembered that Bella was right next to me. Both Taylor and I looked down at her. Her face was pulled into a frown and her arms were crossed over her chest, making it obvious that she was pouting.

I leaned over to her, while giving her a small smile. "I'm sorry, sweetie. We'll go get you another one, okay?" Her pout was suddenly gone, and replaced with an adorable grin. "Okay!" She said, her bubbly personality returning.

"Case, is she yours? She looks just like you," Taylor asked. I could tell that he was trying to keep the surprised expression off of his face.

I was thrown off guard for a minute from him calling me my old nickname he gave me when we were younger. I quickly recovered, and looked back at Bella. What was he talking about? Realization hit me, and it seemed like I couldn't get the answer out fast enough.

"What? You mean, is Bella my child? No! No, that's not it at all! Bella is my little sister!"

He suddenly looked embarrassed. He walked over to Bella and crouched down next to her, completely ignoring that last scenerio. "She's adorable. How old is she?"

"Three."

He suddenly reached his hand out. "Hi, Bella! I'm Taylor! I'm Casey's best friend! It's nice to meet you!" I smiled slightly at his excited tone. Who knew he was good with kids? Bella's eyes grew wide, her light blue eyes sparkling as the sun reflected off of them. "Wow, little one. You have some hypnotizing eyes." I quick laugh escaped my lips. I couldn't disagree with him there. She turned away from Taylor quickly, not caring to shake his hand.

He turned back to me, and raised an eybrow. "Sorry, Taylor, she's really shy around people she doesn't know." I grinned at him sheepishly, feeling bad that she coompletely blew him off.

A smirk played at the corners of his lips. He turned back to Bella, "Don't worry, Bella. You're going to be seeing me a lot from now on."


End file.
